"Life Itself," a documentary about the life of film critic Roger Ebert, launched a crowd-funding campaign Wednesday to raise $150,000 through the website Indiegogo. The film, which is directed by "Hoop Dreams" director Steve James and produced by Martin Scorsese, is based on Ebert's memoir of the same name. In exchange for a $25 donation, supporters will receive a link to view "Life Itself" in advance of its theatrical release, which is planned for early 2014 under the CNN Films banner.

Roger Ebert's passing Thursday at age 70 leaves behind a staggering body of work: He reviewed as many as 285 movies a year, spent decades as a fixture on TV and published 17 books. Following are but a few highlights from his prolific career. Ebert began working as a film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times in April 1967. Among his first reviews was Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde," starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Ebert wrote , "Years from now it is quite possible that 'Bonnie and Clyde' will be seen as the definitive film of the 1960s, showing with sadness, humor and unforgiving detail what one society had come to. " A few years later, he wrote the screenplay for the exploitation film "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" for Russ Meyer, though he would return to journalism before long.

Film critic Roger Ebert will undergo radiation treatment for a cancerous tumor in his salivary gland. The 61-year-old critic underwent surgery in February 2002 for cancer in his thyroid and in February 2003 for cancer in his salivary gland. Ebert said he will "continue to see movies, write reviews and do the 'Ebert & Roeper' television show." He described the treatments as "a follow-up to earlier surgery" and said it is "not considered to be a life-threatening form of cancer."

Film critic Roger Ebert's wife reported he was doing well after an emergency operation in Chicago to repair complications from a previous cancer surgery. Ebert, a film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967 but better known for his "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" critiques on television, was in serious but stable condition Monday. Ebert, 64, had surgery June 16 to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland. About 8 p.m.

When Roger Ebert died last week little more than a day after declaring he was taking a “leave of presence,” people turned to see what the legendary film critic's final published review was. Some were dismayed to find it was a rather middling take on the Andrew Niccol-directed adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's “The Host.” It seemed somehow not enough. Then Ebert's longtime online editor Jim Emerson let it be known that there was one more on its way, a look at Terrence Malick's “To the Wonder.” Ebert had long been a supporter of the filmmaker, even including Malick's 2011 film “The Tree of Life” on his 2012 ballot for the Sight & Sound magazine poll of the greatest films of all time.

Roger Ebert, one of America's most preeminent and popular film critics, has announced that he will reduce the amount of writing he takes on as he fights a new battle with cancer. Writing on his site Tuesday night, Ebert said that a hip fracture has turned out to be cancerous and that he was taking a short pause as he received radiation treatment to combat the disease. He would still contribute to his site, but many reviews would be picked up by others. "Typically, I write over 200 reviews a year for the [Chicago]

It was fitting that Roger Ebert's death caused Twitter to explode Thursday with film and TV critics, cultural recappers and entertainment bloggers sending their best wishes across the coded universe to mark, and perhaps aid, the passing of the iconic film critic. If any presence might cling to the those particular digital ethers, a pinging echo with one final message, it would be Ebert. The first citizen critic, making heady discourse available even to those of us who would never visit the Algonquin or walk the halls of the New Yorker, boldly leveraging the technology at hand to broaden his impact without diminishing his integrity, he was, in many ways, father to us all. Some found it alarming that early reports on the Web listed Ebert's more than 800,000 Twitter followers before they mentioned his Pulitzer Prize, but that too captured Ebert's unique dichotomy.

Film critic Roger Ebert didn't cover the inaugural Toronto International Film Festival in 1976. But he came the second year and for more than 30 years after that, helping, festival director and Chief Executive Piers Handling believes, put the festival on the map as a major destination for movies and the people who love them. Handling and previous festival directors took the stage Thursday night to pay tribute to Ebert, who died in April after a long battle with cancer. Handling presented Ebert's wife, Chaz, with a commemorative plaque, similar to the one that now graces a seat in the TIFF Bell Lightbox's Cinema One theater.

This post has been corrected. See below for details. It seems like only yesterday - in fact, it was only yesterday - that I read that Roger Ebert was taking what he called, with typical verbal skill, "a leave of presence" to fight the cancer that had re-invaded his body. Today he is dead, and that collapsed time frame somehow seems only fitting. For in the more than 10 years since he was diagnosed with cancer, Roger refused to give up as much as an inch to the disease that had ravaged his body but left his mind if anything more nimble and ready to rumble.

Film critic Roger Ebert, who has battled cancer in recent years, was in serious condition after an emergency operation to repair complications from an earlier cancer surgery. Richard Roeper, co-host of the "Ebert and Roeper" movie review show, said the 64-year-old's vital signs appeared good after surgery.